Fortune always favours the brave and I would say it has workedfor Mahendra Singh Dhoni. His leadership has been inspirational, he has dared to take risks and has showed a positive intent right through the tournament.

Dhoni reminds me of Kapil Dev. He is easily approachable and has a good attitude. The youngsters can relate to him well. As he held the trophy aloft, my mind went back to the Lord’s balcony when we had proved the world wrong.

The triumph in 1983 was different. The conditions too were different. But a world Cup victory will always be cherished in the same vein.

Much like 1983 the bowlers have won this tournament for us. This in no way undermines Yuvraj Singh’s efforts. Average cricketers have done well and we have shown that we are not over dependant on the more established ones. Team game has done the trick once again.

You could make out sitting in your living room that the spirit in the team was excellent. Dhoni will take much of the credit. He keeps things simple and doesn’t act intelligent. He prefers to show his intelligence with on field deeds.

Dhoni allows freedom to his bowlers. He speaks to them at the right time. His decisions are guided by his instincts. Twenty20 is a captain’s game and the coach has little role to play. This is because of its fast pace. I only felt Dhoni should have come ahead of Yuvraj in the final. It cost us 25-30 runs as a left-right combination would have been more effective then.

Much will be debated about Dhoni’s decision to give the last over to Joginder Sharma. It was an instinctive rather than calculative but turned out to be right. It is difficult to hit Joginder and because of his slow pace, things fell in place.

The crucial middle overs were bowled by Irfan Pathan. He was brilliant, rolling his wrist and mixing his slower ones superbly. He created the pressure on the Pakistani batsmen. This proved to be the turning point. He is still far from his best, but the good thing is that he’s got his confidence back.

Rudra Pratap Singh was the pick of our bowlers in the tournament. He has matured a lot and kept things very simple. There’s no show business in him.

Sreesanth has a lot of talent but lacks the calmness and discipline of Rudra Pratap. He has to learn a lot from Rudra Pratap. Sreesanth should realise that he is not bowling for the television cameras. The sooner he gets into the groove the better.

The selectors led by Dilip Vengsarkar should also be lauded. They should now persist with these youngsters in ODIs in preparation for the 2011 World Cup.

We have got the nucleus of the side and should not be guided by past mistakes. In 1983, we believed we could beat West Indies in the final even after getting 183. This side too has a similar attitude which will see them through in a crisis.

Congratulations, Dhoni & Co.

Balwinder Singh Sandhu, one of Kapil's Devils, played a significant role in the 1983 World Cup final against the West Indies, the most vivid image being Gordon Greenidge shouldering arms and getting castled to signal the beginning of the end for Clive Lloyd's hattrick dreams